Battery life has become a valuable commodity in the age of smartphones. As our devices become more powerful and feature-rich, they require more power to keep up with our everyday activities. It’s important to remember that all smartphone batteries degrade over time due to continual use and charging cycles.
But don’t worry, there are ways to optimize and extend the battery life of your Android, ensuring that you have enough juice to stay connected, entertained, and productive throughout the day. Here are some valuable tips to help you extend the life of your Android smartphone battery:
Screen brightness
It is not recommended to keep your smartphone’s screen constantly on a high brightness if you use it frequently, as it drains the battery quickly. Keeping your phone’s brightness under 50% is an ideal brightness-to-readability ratio since medium-low brightness is better for your eyes, and it saves battery life.
Apps running in the background
Too many background apps running without being stopped or swiped away are harmful to your phone’s battery life. If you do not correctly close background apps, they will continue to consume battery life. However, closing apps does not mean you will no longer receive notifications from those apps.
Notifications also waste your battery, which is why you should disable notifications for apps you don’t use.
Use battery-saving mode
Almost every modern smartphone today has multiple options for preventing battery wear and tear. These options are activated when your phone’s battery percentage is low, but you can set them up to operate at all times from the settings app. By limiting power usage, brightness, and power draining functions, you can prevent the loss of battery life and prolong your phone’s lifespan by months, if not years.
The quality of your charger
It’s also important to keep in mind that the quality of your charger can also affect how long your smartphone’s battery lasts. In cheap chargers, fewer quality materials and fewer safety measures are used, causing your smartphone battery to degrade faster over time and posing a safety hazard.
Disable background data usage
Some apps use your data without your awareness in the background. This reduces the amount of data you have but also depletes your battery. You may have a lot of apps that rely on data usage, and you should turn off background data usage for the ones you don’t use.
Go to Settings, click Network and internet → Data usage → Data saver, and turn on Data saver. You can stop apps that use data in the background by clicking on them and turning off background data.
Disable WiFi, Bluetooth, and location
Having WiFi, Bluetooth, and location turned on is one of the leading causes of battery drain. Even if you aren’t using any apps, having these options enabled may deplete your battery life because your phone will constantly search for nearby devices and WiFi routers.
Having a location-enabled will also deplete your battery because your phone and apps constantly consume data and power to track your whereabouts.
Keep your phone from extreme heat and cold
Extreme weather conditions, such as being too cold or too hot, can also cause your battery’s health to deteriorate. Our smartphones’ batteries are Lithium-ion batteries (Li-ion). These batteries can degrade over time, but they can also be harmed if exposed to excessive cold or heat. Cold temperatures can cause the chemical reaction in the battery to slow down, lowering the charge, whilst heat can increase the resistance inside the electric components, wasting more power.
Bad internet connection
A terrible internet connection is inconvenient, but it’s even more inconvenient because it drains a lot of battery power. Because your phone is attempting to amplify the signal, it will consume more power. If you are getting a poor signal, turn off the data or move to a location with a better connection.
Lower the refresh rate
Many recent mid-to-high-end Android smartphones now have screens with refresh rates of up to 120Hz. A screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz will make your image and each animation look smooth and attractive but at a high cost. A higher refresh rate, such as 120Hz, will need significantly more power from the processor and GPU, resulting in battery loss.
You can reduce the refresh rate by navigating to Settings → Display → Advanced, selecting Smooth Display, and turning it off.
Don’t charge overnight
Even completely charging your smartphone can be harmful to the Li-Ion battery in rare cases. The problem isn’t that the battery will be overcharged because it can’t go over 100% due to security measurements in the battery and circuits, but that you’re leaving your phone at 100% for an extended amount of time, which may build heat and be harmful to the battery.